Where x There's x Smoke
by LizPrince
Summary: Mar Switzer is thrilled to be asked to join a team of Hunters led by Morel Mackernasey, but she finds her abilities and emotions pressed to the limit as the team tries to find the reason for a rash of insanity among Hunters who enter a certain park. Post-13th Hunter Chairman Election arc. Morel Mackernasey/OC.
1. Chapter 1: Call x and x Response

_I do not own Hunter x Hunter, its world or its characters. Those are the intellectual property of creator Yoshihiro Togashi. This is a work of fanfiction only in appreciation of Mr. Togashi's work. Mar Switzer is my own character._

####

I was sitting on the balcony of my fourth-floor hotel room with a drink in one hand, soaking up the sun. I was bored to tears. I'd been stuck at this beach for a week without finding any interesting work. This wasn't what I signed up for when I became a Hunter!

It seems that I always get lucky when I reach my lowest point. Just as I contemplating playing tour guide to some folks who wanted a licensed Hunter to keep them safe on a relatively tame wilderness trip, my phone rang. The number wasn't one that I knew, but that didn't stop me from answering.

"Mar Switzer."

"Mar, this is Morel Mackernasey," a voice rumbled. I knew the name, of course, though I'd never met the man. "I'm calling to see if you'd join my team on an assignment."

"Tell me more." I slid the glass door to my room open and went straight for my suitcase.

"There's an interesting situation near Melcastle City. A week and a half ago, a Hunter killed four people in the suburbs just outside of Sten Park. The police managed to subdue her. They reported that she seemed out of her mind, so they took her to the local hospital, where she has remained, agitated and unable to speak coherently. Three days later, a park ranger called to report that he had shot and killed a Hunter who was attacking a small party of hikers. A pair of Hunters in the area decided to check things out. They were phoning in regularly for a few days, reporting nothing unusual, and then the Hunters Association lost contact. There's spotty coverage in the forest, so at first everyone just hoped we'd hear from them a little later than usual. About six days after they left, one of them showed up at the park entrance. He killed one of the rangers, but the other one disabled him. This Hunter also was taken to the hospital, and like the first Hunter, he's obviously insane. There's been no sign of his partner.

"I've been asked to take a team into the forest to find and eliminate whatever is affecting the Hunters. No civilians who have recently visited have gone insane, but a family that was camping in the forest has been reported missing. Needless to say, all park entrances have been closed to the public for now.

"We're pretty certain the cause of the insanity isn't environmental. The pair of Hunters who went into the forest most recently wore respirators and brought in their own food and water as a precaution. Our team is going in assuming that we will be up against a powerful _Nen_ user or magical beast. I've chosen to take my disciples, Shoot and Knuckle, and the Chimera Ant, Meleoron - his ability to become indetectable could come in handy. I know of your ability to read auras, and I think we could use that. Will you come?"

"I'm your woman!" I crowed as I finished packing one-handed and snapped my suitcase shut. "When and where do we meet?"

"Take the next flight to Melcastle City. We'll meet at the Hotel Janus."

 _Hellooo, Adventure! So very nice to see you again_.

####

 _Notes: Mar Switzer is named in honor of some awesome women: astronomer Maria Mitchell, scientist Marie Curie and software engineer Margaret Hamilton all inspired her first name. Switzer is a nod to Kathrine Switzer, the first women to officially enter the Boston Marathon (registering under initials, since women were not allowed to run in the marathon at the time)._

 _I didn't find any known place in the world of Hunter x Hunter that really seemed right for the setting I wanted, so I made up my own. Melcastle City is located in the Begerose Allied Nations. The city and its suburbs have a population of just over a million. To the east of the city is a large, forested park, which is nearly 200,000 square kilometers in size. The unusual flora and fauna in the forest make it a very popular destination for Hunters._


	2. Chapter 2:Confession x and x Frustration

Traveling by airship isn't bad, but an 18-hour flight leaves me a little antsy. I was more than ready when we landed. I managed to find a taxi pretty quickly, and we made our way to Hotel Janus. Morel was waiting for me in the lobby. It was the first time I'd met him. He was bigger than I'd expected, and I had known he was a large man. I guessed he was about a decade older than me, though the way _Nen_ slows aging, it was hard to tell.

"You must be Mar," he said, extending his hand. "Glad you could join us. I'll show you to your room, and after you get settled, you can join us in our suite next door so that we can plan our mission. Do you need anything to eat?"

"I'm good," I said. "I ate shortly before we landed."

"Great!" he said. Then he frowned. "I should warn you - Shoot found out at the last minute that his father was dying, so he isn't with us after all. I didn't have time to find another person; hopefully I won't regret that."

In front of the door to my room, he handed me my key. "We're in there," he said, pointing to the door on the right. "Come over when you're ready."

####

 _Nen_ users develop different abilities, according to their type and personality. Many create abilities they can use as weapons, but some of us have less combative abilities. Biscuit Krueger, for example, while skilled at combat, had largely focused on restorative massage. I was one of this group. I was able to use _En_ in a much more complex way over a more extended range than most _Nen_ users. By concentrating, I could extend my _En_ into a 90 degree cone up to one kilometer in front of me. Within this cone, I could detect others' _Nen_. Not only could I gauge how powerful and healthy they were, but if I had met them before, I could tell you who they were. I could not "see" people as if they were on a screen, like Palm Siberia could, and I did not have the ability to identify any individual and that person's attitudes that Meruem eventually developed. But, if Killua had had my ability when he first encountered Palm after she had been transformed, he wouldn't have simply sensed that someone was watching him; he would have been able to tell that she was following him at a certain distance and was no longer herself. I was able to use my ability to some extent while moving and on all sides, but it was much more effective if I could stand still, focus forward, and filter out known Nen users by keeping them behind me.

Morel, Knuckle, Meleoron, and I poured over a map of the park. My ability would help the team search the forest for the unknown source of the Hunters' insanity, though it was still going to be tedious work. "The only solution I can see is to slowly sweep the park. We're going to have to stop frequently for Mar to get a handle on what's around us. It will be slow-going, and if we're correct that the source is a human or magical creature, they probably will be on the move, making it even more difficult, but I see no other way," Morel said. None of us could think of something better, so we agreed to the plan. The second group of Hunters to enter the park had evidently run across the Source, as we called it, after a few days, so we hoped that we would, too.

"I'd like to get started right away," Morel continued, "but before we go, I think Mar should meet the two surviving Hunters in the hospital. They're still incoherent, but she can take a look at their auras and get a feel for what an insane Hunter is like. We'll do that tomorrow just before we leave.

"We'll travel light. We can catch or gather what food we need. We'll take turns cooking, and everyone is responsible for setting up and tearing down the campsite and cleaning up after meals."

I swallowed hard at "cooking." "Um..." I said, a bit hesitant to make my confession. All eyes were on me, so I forged ahead. "I can't cook."

"You can't cook?" Knuckle asked. Morel raised an eyebrow.

"When I was a little girl, my father's friend, a Hunter, visited our family. While he was with us, he told stories about his adventures, and I hung on his every word. I knew that the only thing I ever wanted to do was to be a Hunter. So I kept my grades up to make my folks happy, so that they'd let me take the Hunter Exam someday, and the rest of the time I trained. I pretty much let everything else go," I explained.

"Well, you're not a Gourmet Hunter," Knuckle said with a smirk.

"How can you survive on your own if you can't cook?" Morel asked.

"I make do. I rely on others, I eat what I buy in the towns and carry with me, or I forage. I don't mind raw eggs," I said.

"Everyone should know how to cook," he said. "You'll take turns with whoever's cooking. We'll look for eggs tomorrow. We might as well start with those." He stood. "Now, let's get some sleep. We'll leave for the hospital at 7 tomorrow morning, and we'll go straight from there to the park."

I said goodnight and returned to my room. I was tired, but I couldn't rest. Our task seemed impossible - like finding a needle in a haystack. My range might be further than most _Nen_ users, but it was going to slow us down. I focused, trying to push my range, but I was too exhausted. I couldn't sense anything more than three-quarters of a kilometer away. Disgusted, I lay down and finally drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Walk x and x Talk

What I experienced at the hospital the next morning left me shaken. I met the two survivors, who were agitated and vocal, but their words were meaningless. It was their auras that disturbed me. They seemed twisted or warped, like nothing I'd ever experienced before. "I've got it," I said less than 15 minutes after we'd entered the room.

Morel nodded in understanding and put an arm around me. "Let's go," he said, and we headed off to the park.

####

At first we traveled silently. Every couple of kilometers, we had to stop, while I turned from north to east to south to west, my companions considerately staying behind me all the while. I was unhappy that I was forcing our group to take such a slow pace, but it couldn't be helped. When we'd traveled several kilometers without encountering anything unusual, we began to chat, though we kept our voices low.

I enjoyed getting to know my companions. Meleoron was the quiet one. He seemed a little shy of me at first, which made sense, I suppose. Plenty of people probably didn't take too well to having a Chimera Ant in their presence. But I liked him. During a break, he showed me how God's Accomplice worked, winking out of existence with Knuckle. I was impressed; I couldn't sense them, no matter how hard I tried. Meleoron was proud.

Knuckle was all tough exterior and tender heart, and I loved him for it. If Morel had let him, he would have sacrificed our meals to any nearby animals. I was impressed at the genius behind APR - definitely not an obvious plan of attack.

Morel interested me the most. He was generally cheerful and kind-hearted, though he also liked to tease people. I got a lot of jabs about my inability to cook. Still, it was all in good fun, and I could understand why Knuckle was such a loyal disciple. I found myself gravitating toward his side as we walked, eager to get to know him some more.

The others also wanted to know about me. They knew I was an experienced Hunter, but I was known mostly for my unusual ability. What, they all wanted to know, did I do in combat situations?

"Well, how do _you_ handle direct combat?" I asked Morel, knowing full well what his answer would be.

"I can use my pipe as a weapon, though that's not how I prefer to use it," he said, and he gave it a little twirl.

"I trained hard when I was growing up," I said. "I'm strong, I'm agile, I have endurance. I can hold my own in a physical fight. I just can't fight using _Nen_. You have Deep Purple and Smoky Jail, but without them, you're like me... only, bigger," I admitted. That was lame. Morel laughed.

"I trust you to know when to fight and when to stay out of it," he said to me. Then he chuckled, "I once told Killua Zoldyck that you can't be certain about who will win a _Nen_ fight, and now I'm telling you that I expect you'll know when to bow out. It's different, of course, without the ability to fight using _Nen_ , but I feel like I'm contradicting myself."

####

Our days fell into a rhythm. We rose at dawn, and I helped whoever was on for breakfast duty. Then we packed up and headed out. We walked and stopped, walked and stopped, allowing me to search the area. We took an hour-long break at midday, mostly to rest, and then we started out again. In order to cover as much ground as possible, we traveled for 12 hours a day, taking two half-hour rest breaks in addition to our midday break. Then we set up camp. Once again I helped cook. We all cleaned up and then took turns on watch while everyone else slept. I used my turn at watch to try to stretch my range. I'd press myself as far as I could, and then I'd push a little more. I slept like a rock when I was relieved from duty.


	4. Chapter 4: Found x and x Lost

Things changed on the fourth morning, close to our midday break. During one of our stops, I found two auras to our east. I'd never encountered anything like it before. One aura was strong and was touching the second, weaker aura. Where they touched the second aura seemed to twist. I felt sick. I must have reacted in some way, because the others asked, almost in chorus, "What is it?" "What's going on?"

"I've found the Source, and it's horrible," I said. "It's got someone right now."

"Where is it?" Morel asked.

"About three-quarters of a kilometer that way," I said, pointing a little north of due east.

"Let's go," he ordered.

We moved quickly. I led the way, trying to keep my focus on the two auras. Suddenly, the stronger one disappeared. I swore and came to a stop.

"What's the matter?" Morel asked.

I was silent for a moment, straining everything in my being to try to find my object. "It's gone," I said, clenching my fists in frustration. "I've lost the Source. It just disappeared."

"So he can teleport or disappear like Meleoron," Knuckle said.

"What about the other aura?" Morel asked.

"The insanity has taken hold," I reported. "He, or she, seems to be a relatively weak _Nen_ user, but we should still intercept them."

Morel agreed, and we set out again, feeling a bit depressed over losing our primary target. When we were nearly upon him, we slowed down, looking for a way to spot him before he saw us. As soon as we saw him, Morel said in hushed voice, "I know him. He was in the most recent Hunter exam, when I served as an examiner. He's very green."

"So not much of a threat," said Knuckle.

"Well, we don't know exactly what the insanity does to someone's abilities," he said. "From what we've heard about the previous insane Hunters, they were taken out without too much difficulty, but we shouldn't get too cocky. Let's see what he can do. You and Meleoron should plan to approach him from behind as quickly as possible to hit him with APR."

"Will do," Knuckle replied. Meleoron was on his back in a flash, and they winked out of my perception.

Morel used his pipe to create a few dolls to approach and test the new Hunter. The moment he noticed them, rocks and fallen tree branches rose into the air, hurdled toward the soldiers, and dispersed them into smoke.

"Telekinesis," Morel mused. "Easy. If we attack him from all sides, Knuckle's APR should do its work quickly. You up for this?" he asked looking at me.

"Absolutely," I said. He motioned for me to circle to the right, and he took the left. The Hunter staggered suddenly from Knuckle's blow. APR appeared, and the Hunter began to throw things about wildly, trying to hit first APR, then Knuckle, who was obviously jumping in for another punch every time he saw an opening.

I picked up one of the branches that the Hunter had flung at a soldier. It was relatively free of smaller branches and leaves, making it easy enough to wield as a staff. I could see Morel opposite me. His dash toward our opponent was my own signal to move. The flying debris was fairly easy to dodge; the insane Hunter had no strategy and was working so frantically that it was as if he was fighting blind. Meleoron and Knuckle winked in and out of existence with no discernible reaction from the Hunter. Between his frantic fighting and blows that Knuckle, Morel and I were delivering from all sides, APR had become IRS within moments. The Hunter slumped to the ground.

"What do we do with him?" asked Knuckle.

"Hmmm..." mused Morel. "I don't want to leave him here, but we need to keep moving. How's cell phone coverage?"

Morel had been checking coverage regularly during breaks, and, when he could, he would text Shoot, letting him know where we were and that we hadn't encountered anything yet. "It makes him feel like he's a part of this," he told me, but I knew that it also provided a record of our progress, should anything happen to us. We had no coverage where we were, so we decided to take the Hunter with us until we could reach someone.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked. Now that we knew our target could appear and disappear at will, the task seemed even more complex.

"We stick with the plan," Morel said firmly. "Let's go back to where we were when you found this fellow, and we'll move from there."

Knuckle swung our new companion over his shoulder, and away we went.

####

About an hour later, Morel had a signal again. He called the hospital to let them know we had an insane Hunter who needed transport. We were troubled, because he hadn't come to yet. Morel's plan had been to request a helicopter to meet us in some farmland to the north of the park; we were near the northern border, and it wouldn't take long to get there. When he got off the phone, he announced that we'd be meeting the helicopter as planned, but we would all be returning to the city.

" _What?!_ " I howled. "We just encountered the Source today, and we haven't accomplished our objective!"

Morel nodded sympathetically, but said, "It's only a brief interruption in our plans. One of the insane Hunters is beginning to speak somewhat intelligibly. They think it might be useful if we interview her."

I was still frustrated. I knew face-to-face conversation with the Hunter could be helpful, but I wanted them to just ask him questions and relay answers to us so that we could continue on our mission without interruption. Morel quietly but firmly insisted that we comply with the request that we return to the city, and he kept reassuring me that, given what we now knew about the nature of our opponent, the trip would be more beneficial than detrimental. I really had no choice, so I gave up fighting it and quietly walked alongside my teammates, once again doing my best to scan all around us while in motion.


	5. Chapter 5: Friendly x or x Flirting?

We rendezvoused with the helicopter and flew straight to the hospital. The EMTs took the Hunter from us, and we were escorted to talk to the one Hunter who was now able to make some sense

Emphasis on _some_ sense. We asked her what had happened, and she stared at some point beyond us, muttering, "He came out of nowhere. ... He was evil. Pure evil. ... He treated me like a toy. No. ... A child takes better care of his toys."

"What did he do to you?" Morel asked for the third time... with far more patience in his voice than I felt.

"He pulled everything horrible out of me!" the woman cried, growing agitated. "Everything! All at once!" She started crying uncontrollably, and when it was clear we wouldn't get anything more out of her, the nurse ushered us from the room.

"Well, _that_ was a waste of precious time," I grumbled as we took a taxi back to the Hotel Janus. "We've learned next to nothing. The Source is male, and he somehow pulls things out of people... whatever that means. So what? We're nowhere closer to our goal."

"No," Morel mused, "but we need to revise our plan."

"How? What changed your mind?" asked Knuckle.

"Mar was right to ask where we should go after we found that our opponent can arrive and depart without warning. There's no need to methodically comb the forest. We'll re-enter the park tomorrow, hike toward the interior for a couple of days, and then set up camp. We'll wait for him to come to us. I don't know if he stumbles upon his victims or somehow tracks them down, but putting ourselves out there as bait seems like the best solution for now."

We agreed.

"So," he said, leaning back and smiling, now that our plan was agreed on. "Now we have an evening off. It's a bit early to think about turning in. What should we do?"

"I know of a great bar," volunteered Knuckle. "We can get drinks and a little something to eat."

I felt too annoyed to socialize. "Not me," I said. "I'd rather just get something from room service and call it a night."

"Don't do that," Morel pleaded, surprising me. "I've been wanting to try a restaurant I've heard about. The food's supposed to be good, and they have a live band. Come with me. Knuckle and Meleoron can keep each other company at the bar."

I wasn't quite sure why I said "yes" when I'd already decided I needed a quiet night. I think I was shocked... even a bit thrilled... that Morel had asked me out to dinner. I'd been enjoying his company... I'd been enjoying it _a lot_ now that I really thought about it... but until that moment, I hadn't really thought of him as more than a friend. I was surprised to feel my heart beating faster at the idea of a date with Morel. _But it isn't a date,_ I told myself. _We're colleagues, and he's a very friendly guy._ Or was it a date? I noticed Knuckle raise his eyebrows at his boss and smile. _Maybe..._ No. Better not let myself go with that idea.

Back at the hotel, we retreated to our rooms to clean up a little. A shower felt good, but I wished I had something nice to wear. I always dressed practically when I was at work, so the best I could do was to knock the dust off my cleanest clothing and hang it in the bathroom while I showered in hopes that the steam would freshen it a little. I was impressed that some Hunters, like Morel, always looked dressed up, even out in the back country. I had no idea how they managed.

Morel had told me to knock on his door when I was ready, so I did. He smiled brightly when he saw me. Stepping into the hallway, he offered me his arm. "You look beautiful," he said.

 _Liar,_ I thought, but out loud I said, "Thank you." I willed my heart to slow down. _This is ridiculous, Mar. Don't let yourself get carried away. He's a great teammate, even a friend. He's a really nice guy. You may be mistaking his kindness for something else. And even if he's flirting, it doesn't necessarily mean anything._

The restaurant was a short walk from our hotel. It was crowded, which was a good sign. In the middle of the room, there was a dance floor and a live band. I'd felt a bit tongue-tied on the walk over, letting Morel supply most of the conversation, but once we'd gotten seated and decided what to order, I relaxed and fell back into the easy way of talking we'd had in the park. We talked about our past adventures, compared notes on Hunters we both knew, and sampled each other's food.

The band started a new tune, and Morel looked at me with a smile. "I don't suppose you know how to dance," he said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"I didn't consider essential to my training." I smiled back.

"Everyone should know how to dance," he said.

"It's not exactly like cooking," I replied. "I'm a Hunter, not a society girl or a secret agent." Then I grew more serious. "I could never do what Palm did."

We were silent for a moment, both thinking of Palm. Then he smiled again. "If you don't learn how to dance, you won't be able to dance with _me_ ," he said. He stood and held out his hand to me. I smiled back and followed him onto the dance floor.

####

I couldn't sleep - thoughts of Morel were keeping me awake. He was an excellent dancer and a good teacher. I hoped he hadn't felt my heart thudding when he held me close. It had been a wonderful evening, but I had no idea if it meant as much to him as it did to me.

After tossing and turning for more than an hour, I gave up and worked on trying to improve my range. First I focused solely in front of me, the way I preferred to work; then I tried to see how far I could sense auras on all sides. I was pleased to easily pick out my three companions in the room next door while maintaining a reach of about half a kilometer in front of me. After a while, I got up and walked around the room, trying to improve my focus while in motion.

The practice drained me so much that I could finally collapse on my bed and fall asleep... four hours before my alarm went off.


	6. Chapter 6: Familiar x and x Deadly

After an early breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and returned to the park, all of us eager to resume our mission. Because we knew that the Source could happen upon us at any time without warning, we decided that speed was more important than frequent stops for me to search for auras. We wanted to get a decent distance into the park to set up camp. This meant that I got more practice keeping my _En_ focused all around me while on the move. When we stopped for breaks, I used the opportunity to check more carefully, the way I worked best. I found nothing.

I was a little disappointed that Morel was treating me like he always had prior to our dinner out the night before, and I was angry at myself for having any expectations. I knew he was a nice guy, and I had misread a friendly gesture. My lack of sleep and attempts to search for auras on all sides as we traveled left me tired, and I was irritated with myself for daring to imagine that something might be going on with Morel. I must have let it show, because Meleoron asked if I was okay. "I'm _fine_ ," I snapped. Meleoron backed off, and I saw Knuckle mouth "What's with her?" in Morel's direction. Morel called for a break but said nothing to me.

I stood a little way away from the others for a few moments, pretending to scan for auras, while I took myself to task. _We're a team,_ I reminded myself, _and if we're going to work well together, I shouldn't take my anger out on my teammates. There's no sense in bringing the group down because of my feelings about Morel._ I took a couple of deep breaths and then walked over to Meleoron and apologized. "I didn't sleep well last night," I explained. At least I was telling the truth, even it wasn't the whole truth. Meleoron shrugged it off, saying something about how he knew I was disappointed about our detour into the city the day before. Shortly after that, Morel said it was time to move on.

I was more mindful of my attitude as we continued our trek, and I found myself starting to accept the situation with Morel. By evening, I felt like I was almost able to enjoy his company the way I had before our "date." While Morel hadn't been the least bit unfriendly during the day, I found that as I relaxed, he glanced at me more, smiled more, talked with me more. Our day ended with the four of us sharing funny stories as we cleaned up, and then I took first watch. I used the time to train, but every once in a while I'd find my focus moving from the task at hand to Morel. When Knuckle relieved me, I drifted easily into a dreamless sleep.

####

I woke while it was still dark. I felt like something had disturbed my sleep, but when I reached out, I felt nothing. I tried to go back to sleep, but after tossing and turning for a while, I gave up.

Morel was on watch. In the moonlight, I could see him glance in my direction. I gave him a shy smile. He smiled back and motioned for me to sit next to him. We sat side by side, not touching, not speaking. I felt completely comfortable. After just enjoying the silence with Morel by my side, I closed my eyes and began to search for auras. Finding nothing, I turned to the right, and tried again, pushing my range to its limit. Nothing. Turning another 90 degrees, I now had Morel on my right and the sleeping Knuckle and Meleoron directly in front of me. I was tempted to move around them so that they wouldn't be in my way, but I forced myself to relax, and began probing beyond them. This time I found something - something that clearly did not belong to my teammates. It was that twisted aura that told me that whatever was making the Hunters crazy had already done its work. Worse, I knew who the aura belonged to - Hisoka. There was no mistaking him, despite the way his aura had been warped. Then I realized that he was near another, very faint, aura - one I'd nearly lost in the "noise" of his aura as well as those of my colleagues. Someone was dying! Without looking at him, I groped for Morel's hand and squeezed it. "I've found someone," I hissed. "Hisoka. He's insane, and I'm pretty certain he's killing another Hunter."

Morel had roused the others in a flash, and they wasted no time on preparations. "How far?" Morel asked as he swung his pipe over his shoulder.

"One and a quarter kilometers due north," I replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's the furthest you've ever found someone," he said.

"I've been trying to extend my range. I really need it to go much further."

"Even if the insanity has weakened him, he's too powerful for you to fight," said Knuckle. I wasn't insulted. He was right. The team couldn't be bothered with protecting me.

"I'll lead you there and then meet you back here," I said, but for a fraction of a second, I hesitated. I hadn't finished checking around the campsite for the Source. Suppose it was to our west, and I was leading us after someone who wasn't the focus of our mission? I shrugged off my doubts. Someone was dying, and I couldn't ignore that.

I led them quickly and quietly to within 100 meters of Hisoka and the stranger, then slowed down, creeping behind trees until we arrived at the edge of a clearing. I was horrified at what I saw. Hisoka stood about 12 meters away, his right side to us as he knelt over the stranger. His victim was still alive, but just barely. He was lying on the ground, covered with gashes from where he'd been sliced open by Hisoka's cards. Blood seeped from his wounds. Clearly, we wouldn't be able to save him. But what kept me rooted to the spot was the fact that Hisoka was dipping his finger into the man's blood and painting his face to look a bit like his own – a teardrop on one check, a star on the other.

Knuckle elbowed me, reminding me that I needed to leave. Small as it was, the gesture caught Hisoka's attention. He locked eyes with me and grinned, and then everything seemed to happen at once. Morel swung his pipe to his lips. Meleoron leapt onto Knuckle's back and drew a deep breath, then the two of them disappeared. As I turned to run, a card whizzed by me, grazing my right arm. Suddenly I was surrounded by Morel's dolls, all of whom looked like me. I heard more cards hiss through the air, but they hit the puppets, who were filling the gap between me and Hisoka. I dodged trees and crashed through underbrush until I was aware that the smoke troops were leaving me and returning to protect my teammates – a sure sign that I was safe. Then I hid behind the largest tree I could find, turned toward the scene of the battle, and focused all of my energy on the auras of the participants.

I knew I was supposed to return to our campsite, but I couldn't bring myself to completely abandon my colleagues. If I could stay out of the way and follow the battle using my ability, I'd be ready to jump in and help if needed. I didn't know _how_ I could help them against such a formidable enemy, but if I didn't try, I'd feel like I was letting them down.

Day was breaking as I felt for each person in and around the clearing. Hisoka was where I had originally seen him. Morel had drawn back a little. He had probably changed the soldiers to look like him and was hiding. I couldn't locate Knuckle, Meleoron or Hisoka's victim. Presumably, Meleoron was using God's Accomplice to get Knuckle close enough to Hisoka to land a punch... and the stranger was now dead.

Experiencing the battle through auras instead of through my own eyes was a little confusing. Knuckle clearly landed a punch but then things grew chaotic. I could suddenly sense both Knuckle and Meleoron, and almost as soon as I felt them appear, Knuckle lost a little aura. Morel was on the move. I could only assume that Meleoron had needed to take a breath, and Hisoka had retaliated as soon as they were visible. Then they were gone again, leaving only Hisoka and Morel to battle it out. Knuckle blinked back into my awareness, his aura a bit fainter, but Meleoron remained missing, and then Morel blinked out. Knuckle wasn't moving. What was going on? I started to creep back toward the clearing, debating whether or not to let Hisoka see me. If he did, would he turn to attack me, allowing my friends to get the upper hand, or would I only muck things up?

I felt Hisoka take a couple of hits, presumably from Morel, but his aura remained fairly strong. As soon as I could see the clearing, I could put what I felt in proper perspective. Unfortunately, once I got there, I found that my view was partially blocked by Smoky Jail. Knuckle was propped against a tree, grimacing and putting pressure on a gash in his side. I could feel Hisoka inside Morel's cloud of smoke, and I couldn't detect Morel or Meleoron. I had no doubt they were inside Smoky Jail with Hisoka; Morel had probably decided that that was the best way to protect Knuckle from further damage. I felt Hisoka's aura dip a little from what must have been a blow from Morel, and then I heard APR announce accumulated interest. _Good for you, Knuckle!_ I thought. _You landed APR before Hisoka took you out of the fight._

Suddenly, I felt Meleoron and Morel's auras inside the jail. No surprise, really, but I tensed. Evidently Hisoka saw them before Meleoron could use God's Accomplice again, because Morel's aura took a hit – just the slightest bit, but I screamed "Morel!" For just a moment, everything seemed frozen, and then I felt Hisoka weaken considerably. Moments later, the walls of the jail had dissolved. Meleoron was bent over Hisoka, who had lost consciousness, and Morel was standing beside him, dabbing a little at a scratch just over his left eye. Hisoka had gone bankrupt, so APR had become IRS.

"What happened?" I asked, making my way over to Knuckle to see if I could help him.

"Your scream distracted Hisoka just enough to allow us to finish the job. Meleoron got his hands around Hisoka's throat, and I hit him over the head. It might not have done the job if Hisoka hadn't been insane, but the weakness that seems to come with the insanity worked in our favor."

I knelt next to Knuckle, checking his wound. "He needs to get to the hospital," I informed Morel.

Morel pulled out his phone, checking for coverage, and swore. "We never have it when we need it," he said.

Something tickled the edge of my awareness, so I left Knuckle's side and focused on the area where I'd felt something.

"Sorry, Morel, but I've found someone else. Judging from the aura, it's another insane Hunter – someone I've never met before. He's approximately half a kilometer north of here. He's not headed directly toward us, but he could stumble across us. We need to get Knuckle out of here." It bothered me that we were encountering insane Hunters back-to-back when our first few days had been so quiet. What was going on?

"Knuckle, can you walk?" Morel asked.

"Yeah," Knuckle nodded, but he clearly didn't relish the idea.

"Okay," Morel said. "Meleoron, walk southwest with Knuckle to where you can get a signal, then call the hospital. I want you to use God's Accomplice as much as possible to try to keep anyone from finding you before help can reach you. Once Knuckle is on the way to the hospital, meet us back at the camp. Knuckle, staunch that wound as best you can. We don't want the blood you leave behind to give you away. Mar, we'll need to stay between the Hunter and Knuckle. We'll try not to engage him, but we may have to."

"What about Hisoka?" I asked.

"I'd like to send him to the hospital as well," he said, "but we'll have to come back for him. He should be out for a while."

Meleoron had helped Knuckle up and was allowing him to lean on him as they walked away. I heard him inhale, and they disappeared.

Morel waited a moment for them to get out of earshot, then turned to me. "I appreciate the help, Mar, but you didn't stick with the plan," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I was worried about you. I had to come back and see if I could help."

"You were worried about _me_ , or about the team?" he asked.

"Both," I said, blushing.

Then he kissed me. With my own kiss, I did my best to let him know how much I had wanted that. He tightened his arms around me, crushing me, and I found myself using _Nen_ to keep him from doing any damage. He stepped back, a wry grin on his face.

"Sorry about that. I got carried away," he said. I wrapped my fingers around his tie and pulled him back toward me. He kissed me, but then he groaned and stepped back again, this time with a serious expression.

"Not here. Not now," he said. "We need to protect Knuckle." I knew he was right, but I wasn't quite ready to move on.

"Wait," I said, "Just one thing."

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I've never seen your eyes, Morel."

He smiled again and removed his sunglasses. His eyes were grey.


	7. Chapter 7: Smoke x and x Clarity

Morel's kisses had been distracting, but once we turned to the job at hand, I found that knowing where I stood with him helped me focus on what needed to be done. Morel and I were well-suited for this particular task, though I found the work taxing. I relocated the insane Hunter and let Morel know where he was. Morel used Deep Purple to create dolls designed to lead the Hunter away from where Meloron was taking Knuckle. As we'd hoped, the Hunter followed the dolls, and we followed him. The difficult part for me was keeping on the move while constantly tracking the Hunter and simultaneously searching for Meleoron and Knuckle. Once, within the first minutes of our operation, I felt them wink into existence on the edge of my range, and that brief second convinced me that we were leading the Hunter in the right direction. I lost him a couple of times in the stress of trying to track him and check for my friends in different directions while creeping as silently through the forest as I could. Both times I stopped, holding my hand up to let Morel know I needed to focus on our object. Both times I relocated the Hunter, and we continued the chase. When we judged we'd led the Hunter far enough that he couldn't possibly run into Meleoron and Knuckle, we held still, allowing Morel's dolls to go a little further after the Hunter until I could no longer feel him. Once the danger had passed, I felt enormously fatigued, but I knew we couldn't rest just yet.

"I hate to allow an insane Hunter to wander freely," I said.

"Neither of us is particularly strong in combat, and we don't know what this person can do," Morel said. "Better to let this one go."

I nodded, trusting his judgement. Leaning back against a nearby tree in my weariness, I reached out one more time, searching for auras. I allowed myself the luxury of doing things the way I preferred, turning 90 degrees toward the right after not finding something, until I'd made a complete circuit. Morel waited silently.

"Nothing," I said.

"We need to pick up Hisoka and then head back to camp so that we're there when Meleoron returns," Morel said. "Can you do that?"

I would rather lay down right where we were and take a nap, but I smiled and nodded, and we made our way back to where we had encountered Hisoka. We were silent, though I was pretty certain Morel refrained from talking largely because he knew I was too tired for conversation. An hour's walk brought us back to the clearing where we'd fought Hisoka. As we had expected, he was still out cold. Morel looked me up and down. "I'll take Hisoka if you'll carry my pipe," he said, holding it out in my direction.

"I can manage that," I replied, taking it from him. I hit a tree branch as I swung it over my shoulder, and Morel winced.

"Oh, come on!" I said, grinning at him. "You hit people with this. I know it's sturdy enough to handle a little rough treatment."

He gave me a half-smile but looked a little worried. "Just take care of it. It's pretty important to me."

"I will," I said, not willing to tease him anymore about something that clearly mattered to him. He hoisted Hisoka over one shoulder. IRS clung to Hisoka's limp body.

"What if he comes to?" I asked.

"I don't think he's much of a threat in this condition," he replied. "Between the insanity and IRS, he should be pretty easy to knock out again."

We set out toward camp.

####

When we got back to camp, it was well after noon. I knew I should be hungry - none of us had eaten since dinner the previous night - but I wasn't. Morel put Hisoka on the ground – far more gently than I would have – and took his pipe from me. I sat down, leaned back against a tree, and closed my eyes. "I enjoyed that, but I'm beat," I said.

I sensed Morel sitting down next to me. He put an arm around me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"We've encountered a lot of insane Hunters all of a sudden," I murmured. "Why do you think that is?"

"I've been wondering about that myself," he said. "We may just have had a string of bad luck. This park is popular with Hunters, and the weather has been particularly nice. No one has to sign in to enter the park, so who knows how many Hunters happened to be here when all of this started. And once the first insane Hunters turned up in the Melcastle suburbs, there would naturally be Hunters who'd want to be the hero who found and eliminated the Source. Remember, we're still missing one from that party of two that tried it before we were called in. As for Hisoka, I've no doubt he showed up just looking for a challenging fight. Guess he got more than he bargained for this time."

"Mmm-hmmm," I agreed, too tired to say anything more. In no time, I was asleep.

####

When I woke, I was lying on the ground with my head on a makeshift pillow of leaves. The sun was low in the sky, and Morel and Meleoron were cooking dinner.

Morel looked up and smiled. "Look who's awake!" he rumbled.

"Thanks for letting me sleep like that," I said.

"You worked hard. You needed rest. Besides, we're a team. When one of us is exhausted, we all suffer," he reminded me.

"How's Knuckle?" I asked Meleoron.

"He'll be fine," he said. "A few days will see him good as new."

"I'd rather not wait a few days," Morel said, "but we've lost our best fighter." He took a plate of food and handed it to me, and then he and Meleoron each took their own plates and sat down. "I'm leading this team, but I want both of you to weigh in," he said, looking from me to Meleoron. "What should we do?"

"I don't see how God's Accomplice will do us much good, given the abilities of the people in this group," Meleoron said. "No offense." He smiled at both of us.

I shrugged. "I agree. We don't know how the Source does what he does, but I can't see how the three of us could possibly handle him. He bested Hisoka, after all. And speaking of Hisoka, we need to get transport for him to Melcastle City. It's a pity we couldn't have brought him out with Knuckle."

"That couldn't be helped," Morel said. We sat in silence for a minute. "I can't see a way out of this," he finally said. "Much as I hate to say it, I think we need to go back to the city with Hisoka. We'll check on Knuckle, and I'll see what other Hunters are available to help. It looks like I should have taken the time to replace Shoot. We'd still be able to do this if he were here. As soon as someone - Knuckle or some other Hunter - is able to join us, we'll return to the park." He turned to me. "I'm sorry, Mar. I know you hate these interruptions."

"This one's a little easier for me to understand," I said, shrugging. "Besides," I added with a little smile, "the last interruption wasn't as bad as I'd expected."

Morel grinned broadly. Judging from Meleoron's face, he knew what was going on between us. It's hard to keep secrets among teammates.

Having slept the afternoon away, I volunteered to take first watch. The night was peaceful, and I was too happy to let the new delay to our mission disappoint me. I found that working on extending my range came easily, but there was nothing to find. In a few hours, Meleoron relieved me, and I went to sleep with a smile on my face.


	8. Chapter 8: Flee x or x Fight?

We headed back toward the park entrance the next morning, moving quickly. We kept our breaks short, relying on speed to get us back to the safety of the city that evening. Morel had to knock Hisoka out again when he started to come to, but he wasn't much trouble over all.

At midday we were settling down for a short break when I felt something blink into my awareness, mere meters away. I jerked upright and found myself staring at a boy. He was far too young to be who I knew he was, and the shock made me lose my voice for a second. "He-" I finally managed to squeak, but at that moment the boy reached his hand toward me and twisted it as if he were opening a spigot, a wicked grin on his face. I felt cold and fell to my knees as a flood of emotion overwhelmed me - all my fears, grief, anger, loneliness, shame, despair… every horrible thing I'd ever felt engulfed me and pulled me under. The world was devoid of love and hope, rotten to the core, and of everything rotten in it, I was the worst.

Then I was safe in someone's arms. But they weren't Morel's arms. Using God's Accomplice, Meleoron had snatched me from harm. I was grateful, but frightened. I saw the boy staring in my direction in shock, then shifting to where Meleoron had been standing. Morel used the opportunity to bring his pipe down on the Source, hard. I could see that the boy was hurt, but not enough to stop him. He turned on Morel and immediately attacked him the way he had attacked me. Morel dropped his pipe and fell to the ground, clutching his head.

I leapt to my feet and was practically pulling Meleoron to get to Morel. My mind was racing. We could stop the attack on Morel temporarily, but at most we'd buy our group a few moments. Meleoron could probably wink back into existence once more, and then the boy would have figured things out. Even with Meleoron touching both of us, we weren't going to be able to escape before he had to take another breath, and if the boy was smart, he'd attack the Chimera Ant first in order to leave us defenseless.

It seemed that the Source couldn't attack more than one of us at a time. I wasn't sure how long the attacks took, but it was possible that if he were attacking one of us, the other two could escape, particularly if one of the two escaping was Meleoron. I knew that both Morel and I would be willing to sacrifice ourselves to let the rest of our team escape... and I also knew that neither of us would be willing to leave the other. My worst-case scenario involved Morel shutting me out with Smoky Jail while he faced the Source. I wasn't about to let that happen.

I could see no choice but to fight, but that meant doing something I'd never done before, and I didn't have much time to think, let alone experiment.

Meleoron and I stopped just behind Morel and knelt down, allowing the Chimera Ant to keep one arm around me and put one around Morel. Morel was on his hands and knees, shaking. I reached over and touched his left hand to comfort him... and to strengthen myself in the face of what I had decided to do. Then Meleoron gasped. In that moment, I wrenched myself from his touch, jumped to my feet and launched myself at the boy.

I slammed into the Source and knocked him to the ground. Immediately I reached for his hands to pin them down. I guessed that he needed to move them in order to manipulate his opponent's emotions. If I could immobilize him long enough for my teammates to assist me, I wouldn't have to try to fight him with _Nen_.

I had pinned the boy's arms to the ground, clasping each wrist. Too late, I realized that I should have clamped down on his hands instead. He was able to rotate his fingers slightly, and that was enough to send a sickening wave of emotions flooding again. This time, at least, I knew what to expect.

What I didn't expect was that Meleoron would touch me before I could try my idea - and why wasn't Morel with him? Then I saw him, approaching the boy with pipe held high. That might help, but given the results of his last swing, I doubted one blow would do the job, and the kid might try to attack him in the meantime. I was trying to shift my weight so that I could get the boy's hands under control, but Meleoron had no idea what I needed to do or how I needed to move. _Nothing like a team making a completely uncoordinated attack,_ I thought bitterly. I was going to have to get rid of Meleoron. I let go of the boy's wrists, twisted around within Meleoron's grasp, and bit him on the cheek, hard.

Surprised, Meleoron gasped and let go. I tried to get hold of the boy's hands, but the sacrifice I'd made to get Meleoron off of me was unfortunate. There was no way this kid was going to let me pin his hands down. He twisted one hand, and the moment I saw him move, I pictured the faucet he was opening, building it up with everything I could muster. He turned the spigot, releasing gut-wrenching emotions with his gesture, but this time, I directed everything through the faucet and onto him as he lay beneath me - sorrow and fear and hatred and anger and disappointment all pouring out of my aura into his. Instead of collapsing under the weight of emotions this time, I experienced a rush of anger at the boy for dredging up all of my pain, all at once. I poured this anger through the faucet, too. The boy's eyes were wide, his pupils dilated. And then the bowl of Morel's pipe came crashing down on his head, once, twice, three times, and the child went limp underneath me. I heard a ringing in my ears, my field of vision narrowed, and I fell on top of him.

####

Morel told me later that I was only out for a few moments. I was cradled in his arms when I awoke. Meleoron was rubbing the cheek I'd bitten and bending over the Source.

"How long do you think we have before he comes to?" Morel asked him.

"He's not going to," Meleoron replied. "You killed him."

I swore, and Morel laughed. "You'd think you'd be happy to be rid of him," he said. "If he'd regained consciousness, we'd have had to keep his hands immobilized."

"Yes, but now we'll never know... anything. Who was he? Why was he doing this? All of that's lost now."

Morel squeezed me tight. "I know. But we're safe, and he won't hurt anyone else." He paused, then added. "Where did that come from, Mar? I thought you were an Enhancer."

"The things one can come up with in a pinch," I said, smiling weakly. "But I'll never be able to do _that_ again."

He kissed me on the forehead. "Well, our mission is done now, mostly. We need to locate the insane Hunter from yesterday, and we should probably make sure he's the last of them, but first we should get Hisoka to the hospital, and I'd still like some additional help for our team. Before _any_ of that, though, we need to rest." For the first time, I saw a look of weariness cross his face. This last fight had taken a lot out of all of us.

I was comfortable in Morel's lap, but I forced myself up so that he could contact the hospital and delay our meeting time until tomorrow. I made my way over to our teammate. "Meleoron," I said. "I'm sorry I bit you."

"I figured out why you did it," he said, "but I still wish you hadn't. That hurt!"

I smiled. "Really, I'm sorry." He smiled back, and then we agreed to search together for food while Morel made his phone calls.

####

We ate an early dinner, and Morel was all for turning in, but I persuaded him to move a bit closer to the park's borders before we settled down for the night. I couldn't stand sleeping anywhere near the boy, even if he couldn't harm us anymore. An hour's hike left me feeling a bit easier.

Meleoron agreed to take first watch. Morel lay out ground, looking up at the treetops thoughtfully. I snuggled up beside him. "I need you beside me," I said. "I'm scared of being alone."

"I understand," he replied. He shifted to face me and gave me one swift kiss before pulling me close. Feeling safe, I fell asleep in his arms. I roused a little when Meleoron woke Morel for his turn at watch, but Morel just sat up, ruffled my hair, and murmured, "I'll be right here, Mar." I slipped easily back into sleep. When Morel woke me with a kiss, I found he'd taken my turn at watch as well as his own. He said that our fight with the Source left him feeling disturbed enough that he couldn't go back to sleep, so he figured he'd just let me rest.

We ate little for breakfast and made an early start; we just wanted to get out of the park and back to the city. It was still morning when we met up with our transport to the hospital.


	9. Chapter 9: End x and x Beginning

On our ride back to the city, we found out that another insane Hunter had appeared in the suburbs and been taken to the hospital. Once we met him, I was able to identify him as the Hunter we'd followed when we were protecting Knuckle. He also happened to be the missing Hunter from the party of two that had first set out after the Source. This led to another change in plans: Morel decided that it would be too difficult to scour the park to see if there were any more insane Hunters. Instead, he suggested we stay in the city for a few more days in case we were needed. The rangers were advised to keep the park closed during that time and to advise us if additional Hunters showed up. They never did.

Knuckle was out of the hospital the day after we arrived. The Hunter we had interviewed after she regained the ability to communicate was continuing to improve, and the staff had every reason to believe the others would also recover in time.

Morel and I both felt a bit shaken at first. Neither of us was very talkative, and we stayed close to each other most of the time. By our second day, we were both starting to feel better and found ourselves laughing and chatting with our teammates as if nothing had happened.

####

The night before the park was supposed to reopen, Morel took me to the restaurant where we'd gone dancing, while Meleoron and Knuckle remained behind at the hotel. I felt oddly shy given everything we'd gone through together. There was no doubt that Morel was as fond of me as I was of him, but our mission was winding to a close, and I didn't know what to expect after that.

Halfway through dinner, Morel introduced a subject we hadn't discussed before. "Has there ever been anyone else in your life?"

"No" I confessed. "I've been pretty single-minded for most of my life - pun intended. Honestly, I didn't need anyone." That felt odd for me to say. If I had to say "good-bye" to Morel now, it would be like part of my body had been torn from me. But I didn't say that. Instead I just asked, "You?"

"I was married once," he said. "My wife died of cancer 12 years ago." I reached out and took his hand. We sat in silence for a moment. Then he went on, "I wasn't with her when she died. I was a Hunter; she was not. Our marriage was short, and for most of it she was alone. After her death, I realized what kind of husband I'd been, and I decided it would be best for me to avoid another relationship of that kind." He was silent again. "But I want nothing more than to have you by my side."

"I feel like I belong there," I confessed. He stood up, pulled me to him, and gave me a long, tender kiss, right there in the middle of the restaurant. When he stopped, he held me against his chest. I could hear his heart thudding.

"Where are you going next?" he asked me softly.

"Wherever there's adventure," I replied.

"I've been wanting to search for a rare sea creature. Would you come with me?" he asked, holding me back a little so he could look at me.

"I'd like nothing better," I said, and he kissed me again. I could feel some of the diners around us staring. _Let them stare. I'm a Hunter, and I have the best life anyone can ask for._

 _####_

 _Notes: I had originally checked off Hisoka as one of the characters in the story, but I'm going to uncheck him. While he does appear, his presence is relatively brief and he isn't the Hisoka everyone knows, so I think it would disappoint his fans to read this story just for him._

 _Also, I hadn't planned on writing anything else about Morel and Mar, but then I started playing with ideas for the sea adventure during my idle time, and I might actually be able to do something with it (no promises). The question is: Is there any interest in another story about them?_

 _Thanks for reading this!_


End file.
